In theaters

“8 WOMEN,” written and directed by Francois Ozon, adapted from the play by Robert Thomas, 113 minutes, rated R, in French with English subtitles.

Francois Ozon’s “8 Women” tries to make George Cukor’s 1939 catfight, “The Women,” look like a quaint Sunday prayer meeting among the best of friends. While it doesn’t quite pull that off (what could?), it has a great time trying and, in the end, it stands as a worthy homage to the unforgettable mood Cukor created in his film.

Set in the 1950s, “8 Women” is a haughty, heavy-breathing melodrama based on Robert Thomas’ play. It’s so over-the-top, it almost knocks itself out.

The film begins with a rush of strings and trumpets from Krishna Levy’s triumphantly purple score and a glimmering curtain of crystal beads shimmering in a soft pastel hue. Both ground the movie in camp while priming the viewer for what’s to come. Certainly, you hope that whatever is lurking beyond that curtain will be just as festooned, bejeweled and grotesque as the curtain itself.

It is. Indeed, when the beads wink apart, they reveal a huge snowbound French country estate that, inside, is the sort of Technicolor dreamworld that could put a crease in Vincente Minnelli’s pants.

What ensues feels like Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park” as written by Agatha Christie on a nitrous oxide drip. The film has more bite and more histrionics than Altman’s film, but then it also has six full-length musical numbers performed by eight famous French actresses, all of whom play suspects in the murder of the estate’s wealthy owner, a man found dead early on with a knife in his back.

Who did it? Take your pick. The film’s bevy of lusty, busty babes – Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert, Firmine Richard, Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier and Emmanuelle Beart – all could be the killer. But who has the true motive? And is the film ever truly what it seems?

As it becomes clear that somebody here is more clever with the cutlery than she’s letting on, the film channels everyone from Jacques Demy to Douglas Sirk as these women work hard to root each other out. If the story sometimes strains against its seams – not unlike Deneuve in her dress – the cast is consistently strong, particularly Deneuve and Ardant, bravely throwing caution to the wind and mugging fearlessly in an all-out effort to bring down the house.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

REIGN OF FIRE, directed by Rob Bowman, written by Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka and Matt Greenberg, 100 minutes, rated PG-13.

As Rob Bowman’s sci-fi thriller “Reign of Fire” sees it, within 18 years the world will be toast, humans will be an endangered species and fire-breathing dragons will rule what’s left of the Earth.

Finally, some good news.

The film, from a script by Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka and Matt Greenberg, follows Earth’s remaining few inhabitants as they fight for survival in an atmosphere that promises death at every turn.

They are of two camps, the first being some castle-dwelling Brits led by Quinn (Christian Bale), a hairy bloke who first encountered these dragons as a wee lad in London, when they bloodied his mum in an elevator mine shaft. He’s bitter and it shows.

The second camp is a gaggle of white-trash hillbillies from Kentucky led by the cigar-chomping, much-tattooed Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) – a man’s man who seems to exist purely by instinct and who embraces his inner-redneck sensibilities with a brio that’s every bit as creepy as the critters crawling within his Vandyke beard.

After some initial chest thumping between Quinn and Van Zan, both groups make nice and become one, joining forces to contain the burgeoning dragon population, which is somehow being fueled by the seed of only one male, a fiery beast who has the thankless responsibility of spanning the globe and impregnating each of the one million females.

Naturally, it’s up to Quinn, Van Zan et al. to find that lone male and put an arrow through its heart – which, theoretically, will finish off the dragons.

As directed by Bowman, who scored big with “The X-Files” movie, “Reign of Fire” predictably has testosterone to spare; even the dragons have a swagger. Moments are incomprehensible and there are plot holes aplenty, but there are also some well-conceived battle scenes that divert attention from the occasionally hilarious dialogue, which is not above asking its characters to shriek, “Lock and load, baby! Lock and load!” even if what they’re loading is only a crossbow.

Grade: C+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, Tuesdays and Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived on RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores, starting alphabetically with the most current releases.

Reign of Fire ? C+

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron ? B+

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing ? A

Bad Company ? D

The Importance of Being Earnest ? B-

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones ? C+

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys ? B-

The Powerpuff Girls Movie ? B

Pumpkin ? C+

The Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood ? B+